Hot Topics:

Boston bombings: Television can only 'hurry up and wait'

By Chuck Barney, Contra Costa Times

Posted:
04/19/2013 03:22:00 PM EDT

Boston police clear an area following an explosion near the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon in Boston, Monday, April 15, 2013. Two explosions shattered the euphoria of the Boston Marathon finish line on Monday, sending authorities out on the course to carry off the injured while the stragglers were rerouted away from the smoking site of the blasts. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) (Charles Krupa)

Eerie scenes of a city on lockdown. Streets choked off by police barricades. Blackhawk helicopters swooping through the sky. A raging uncle spewing venom about his nephews.

These were disturbing images that millions of Americans woke up to on Friday as television delivered wall-to-wall coverage of the massive manhunt for the Boston Marathon bomber.

The search, we learned, came on the heels of a violent night in which a second suspect died in a firefight with police, and one officer was killed "in cold blood" and another was seriously wounded.

Through it all, TV journalists in studio and on the ground tried to piece together a profile of the suspect, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, a native of southern Russia, near war-torn Chechnya, who allegedly planned the bombings with his brother. Family members and former classmates were sought out, along with anyone who might have had contact with them.

In this desperate attempt to glean even the most trivial piece of information, some of the testimony was helpful and some wasn't. Did the brothers love America? Maybe. Maybe not. They apparently were "quiet" and "normal," but what does that mean? At one point, a local boxer was even called upon for his input because he once sparred with one of the brothers.

Advertisement

"I ended up roughing him up and we never sparred again," he told ABC News.

OK, that was helpful.

The most extraordinary bit of morning footage was an impromptu, street-side interview with the brothers' uncle, Rusian Tsarni, who, in an agitated state, expressed concerns that the alleged actions of his nephews would reflect on his homeland, his family and his religion.

Tsarni described them as "losers" who were never "able to settle themselves," and called for the suspect to surrender.

Meanwhile, ABC seemed to score an exclusive when the suspect's father spoke several times -- off camera -- to a network reporter. Apparently, the FBI had yet to make contact with the man, raising the question: Had the media done a better job of finding him?

Out on the streets, it looked like ominous scenes from a crime thriller we'd see on television or at the cineplex. But fictional drama, unlike real life, provides the viewer with swift resolution. As the coverage dragged on past 11 a.m. (PST), the suspect was still at large and networks filled time with repetitive interviews and time lines and even more replays of Monday's awful images.

It's during lulls like these when speculation runs rampant and things get dicey. At one point, CNN's Wolf Blitzer said, "Apparently a lot of explosives are in the area," without citing a source. There was also unsubstantiated talk of possible other accomplices on the loose in the area.

Through it all, it was difficult not to think about those fearful residents, locked in their homes, and trying their best to glean information from television and social media.